n-Space is back from the dead faster than John Raimi

If you get the reference there in the headline, you’ve probably been an n-Space fan as long as I have. I first heard about the Orlando, Florida-based studio during the development and lead-up to Geist, their Nintendo-published, Gamecube exclusive first person action adventure that launched back in 2005. N-Space has been around a lot longer, having been founded in 1994, and they work mostly on licensed titles. What impresses me about them most, though, is that they put an uncommon amount of effort into those licensed games, as much effort as they put into a creative original IP like Geist. n-Space has been one of the most prolific, technologically innovative developers working on the DS, single-handedly bringing Call of Duty to the handheld and releasing two excellent James Bond titles for DS last year. For the last few years, If you were a publisher and needed a good DS game, you went to n-Space.

Sadly n-Space was hit with the same financial woes last year that plagued many long-standing studios, and in October it looked like it was all over…until it wasn’t. Amazingly, n-Space recovered, hiring back most of their staff and gaining contracts for several new games. While venerable studios like Krome, Pandemic and Bizarre Creations closed their doors, n-Space managed to rise from the ashes. n-Space co-founder Dan O’Leary has a post up on the studio’s official blog, detailing recent events and also the state of the industry, particularly in regards to handheld gaming. It’s a good read and offers some cool insights into where the industry is going, with some firsthand experienced from DICE and GDC.

With all the layoffs happening it’s pretty amazing to see a studio recover. I’ve seen many of my favorite developers bite the dust over the years so as a journalist and a fan it’s great to see that n-Space is still alive and kicking. For a while I was worried that I wouldn’t see n-Space stretch its legs on the 3DS—I was actually a little scared to see what they could do with the hardware, considering the things they’ve pulled off on the DS—but n-Space fans have more games to look forward to now. In addition to one last DS title and a 360 Kinect game, n-Space has three new projects in development for 3DS.